LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million users worldwide as of October 2022. With such a huge userbase, LinkedIn presents an excellent opportunity for professionals and businesses to establish their brand, generate leads, and drive traffic to their website or offers.
One way to maximize reach and engagement on LinkedIn is by boosting posts. But is paying to boost LinkedIn posts really worth the investment? Here is an in-depth look at the pros and cons of LinkedIn post boosting.
What is LinkedIn post boosting?
LinkedIn allows users to “boost” their posts to reach a wider audience beyond their existing connections and followers. When you boost a post, LinkedIn promotes it in the feed of targeted users for a specified duration.
You can choose to boost a post to reach a target audience by:
- Job title
- Company
- Industry
- Location
- Interests/skills
Boosting expands the reach of your posts beyond just your 1st-degree connections. The boosted post is more likely to be seen by 2nd and 3rd degree connections as well as LinkedIn members who fit your target audience but are not directly connected to you.
Cost of boosting LinkedIn posts
The cost of boosting a LinkedIn post depends on your target audience and duration. Here are the current LinkedIn boost pricing tiers:
| Target audience | Duration | Cost per post |
|---|---|---|
| 150,000 members | 1 week | $25 |
| 250,000 members | 1 week | $50 |
| 350,000 members | 1 week | $75 |
| 150,000 members | 2 weeks | $50 |
| 250,000 members | 2 weeks | $100 |
| 350,000 members | 2 weeks | $150 |
The minimum budget required to boost a post is $25. LinkedIn offers the flexibility to set a maximum budget so you can control costs.
Pros of boosting LinkedIn posts
Here are some of the benefits of boosting LinkedIn posts:
Increased reach and visibility
The biggest advantage of boosting is it allows your content to reach a much wider audience beyond your existing network. Even high-quality content may not be seen by many people simply due to the algorithmic feed. Boosting helps more of your target audience discover your posts.
Build credibility and trust
Consistently creating and sharing high-value content positions you as an industry thought leader. With boosting, the right audience is more likely to see your expertise in action. This can strengthen your brand image and trust.
More post engagement
Boosted posts typically receive higher engagement in terms of likes, comments, and shares compared to organic posts. More visibility means more people will interact with your post.
Lead generation
Boosting posts related to your products, services, content offers or events can help drive traffic and capture more leads. The increased exposure and clicks can support your lead gen efforts.
Improved brand awareness
Boosting brand-related content can get your brand and messaging in front of more of your target audience. Done consistently, it improves brand visibility and recall.
Cons of boosting LinkedIn posts
Here are some potential downsides of LinkedIn post boosting:
Costs can add up
While the minimum spend is small, regularly boosting multiple posts across weeks and months can get expensive. The costs quickly add up, especially if aiming to reach larger audiences.
Results can vary
There are no guarantees of viral reach and high engagement even after boosting. The results can vary widely depending on factors like content quality, targeting, overall post volume etc. You may not always achieve your desired outcomes.
Risk of negative sentiment
Boosting can increase the risk of negative comments or reactions, since the post is being shown to people outside of your network. Controversial topics and sales-focused posts tend to attract more pushback when boosted.
Oversaturation
Too many boosted posts within a short timeframe can lead to lower engagement rates and diminishing returns, especially if targeting a niche audience. Spacing out boosts is advisable.
Appears as sponsored content
Boosted posts are labelled as “sponsored” on LinkedIn. Some people ignore or distrust sponsored posts, limiting engagement compared to organic content.
Best practices for boosting LinkedIn posts
Here are some tips to get the most out of your LinkedIn boosts:
Target a specific audience
Granular targeting yields better results than a broad generic target group. Identify and select the job titles, industries, companies, locations and interests that matter most.
Focus on the value proposition
Clearly communicate how your content or offer specifically helps your target audience. Posts that provide value generally have higher engagement.
Use visual content
Posts with images, infographics, and videos tend to perform better. Visuals make the post more eye-catching in the feed.
Watch competitor activity
Observe competitors or industry leaders boosting cadence and targeting to identify potential opportunities.
Include a strong call-to-action
Prompt the audience to take their next steps, whether it’s downloading content, accessing a discount or setting up a meeting.
Test different post formats
Play around with long-form articles, quick tips, data-driven stats, motivational quotes, polls and more. See what resonates most with your audience.
Analyze and refine
Review analytics to understand engagement levels, drop-off rates and feedback. Continuously optimize your boosts based on data and learnings.
When should you boost LinkedIn posts?
Here are some of the best scenarios for boosting LinkedIn posts:
- Launching a new product or service
- Driving registrations for an upcoming webinar/event
- Promoting lead magnets like ebooks, whitepapers, templates
- Announcing company news or milestones
- Sharing an employee spotlight or promotion
- Publishing thought leadership content
- Promoting job openings
Should you always boost LinkedIn posts?
Here are some important factors to consider:
- Not all posts are worth the investment of boosting. Assess the quality and value of each post.
- For brands just starting out on LinkedIn, focus first on organically growing your followers and engagement.
- Routinely boosting random or poor performing posts can be ineffective. Be selective and strategic.
- Always test a sample of non-boosted posts first to compare performance vs boosted.
- Consider your goals and target metrics, and whether boosting will support hitting those.
- Weigh the cost vs likely benefits before deciding to boost posts.
While boosting can be hugely valuable when done right, it’s not necessarily a good fit or priority for every brand at all times. Consider both your budget and objectives before ramping up boosting.
Should you stop boosting a poor performing post?
If a boosted post is clearly underperforming, here are some steps worth considering:
1. Pause the boost and re-evaluate
You can pause any in-progress boosts from the Ads Manager. Use this to temporarily stop a boost that is not resonating as expected. Assess whether certain targeting or messaging needs adjustment.
2. Let it finish its initial duration
Monitor the metrics for another 1-2 days as the boost runs its course. There is a chance engagement can pick up slightly with time.
3. Consider a new boost with tweaks
Try creating a duplicate post and boost that instead with some improvements based on early feedback and data.
4. Cut losses and move on
If after the above steps the boost still underwhelms, pull the plug, end the boost, and start afresh. Some posts simply do not connect with the target audience.
The key is to not get anchored on one specific underperforming post when managing boosts. Optimize, pivot or try a different angle rather than continuing to push a post that clearly misses the mark.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn post boosting can deliver tremendous value but requires smart strategizing and continuous optimization.
The ideal approach is to:
- Assess which posts are worth boosting based on content quality and objectives
- Target each boost to relevant niches within your audience
- Experiment with formats, messaging, cadence to identify what resonates
- Closely monitor performance and fine-tune approach
- Ensure overall costs align with returns and goals
With over 15 million LinkedIn posts created daily, standing out takes effort. An intelligent boosting strategy can help quality content thrive and accomplish your desired business outcomes.
While not every post needs boosting, it’s a high-impact tactic when leveraged effectively as part of an integrated LinkedIn marketing plan.
